The defeat and the performance on the south coast saw their chances of survival written off, becoming the second team destined for the drop along with Sunderland.

But mathematically there’s still a chance they could stay up.

They’re nine points off Hull City in 17th, and twelve points off Burnley in 16th. With five games left to play there are 15 points available, meaning a there’s still the faintest of chances they could do the impossible and stay up.

The run in isn’t kind, though, and they have to play Manchester City, Chelsea, Southampton and Liverpool after Wednesday’s game against bottom of the table Sunderland.

If they are to pull it off, here are a few players who’ll need to be on form during the final weeks.

Ben Gibson

Ben Gibson will leave Middlesbrough at the end of the season if [when] they're relegated. (Source: Sky Sports) pic.twitter.com/LKeYORluD8

While all the focus this season has been Burnley’s young English defender Michael Keane, Ben Gibson can consider himself unfortunate not to be in the same conversation when it comes to promising home grown centre backs. The team around him have crumbled, despite the foundations he’s tried to lay at the back.

He’s a rare breed too, as half decent left-sided English centre backs are hard to find. Gibson has the potential to be more than half-decent, and should remain at the top level, even if Middlesbrough don’t.

He’ll need to continue his impressive form in the final games if his side are to stand a chance of staying up.

Víctor Valdés

Until recently the solidity in the Middlesbrough defence was making up for a lack of attacking threat.

Having conceded just 28 goals by the end of February — giving the team the sixth best defense in the league at that time — they undid all this hard work and shipped a total of 15 goals during March and April.

Positioned behind this suddenly shaky defence, Víctor Valdés is one of the players in the squad who can offer experiences from the very top of the game, and though a relegation scrap will be new to him he could help instil a winning mindset.

He’s also likely to be called upon to make a few saves before the season is out, and big saves at big moments can turn games, and seasons.

Viktor Fischer

Viktor Fischer, Patrick Bamford and Adlene Guedioura all watched the sorry defeat at Bournemouth from the press box. By the end of the game the players, and the journalists around them, may have been wondering why they weren’t on the pitch.

Fischer has rarely feature since signing from Ajax last summer, despite being considered a young player with a bright future during his time at the Dutch club.

He suffered a bad hamstring injury in 2014 which kept him out for over a year, and for a player whose strengths were dribbling and movement this was a debilitating knock.

Adama Traoré

He’s without doubt the best dribbler in the league and manages 8.4 successful dribbles per 90 minutes, which is far more than the likes of high profile dribblers Eden Hazard (4.5) and Alexis Sanchez (2.9).

However, his final action is severely lacking. He only has one assist so far this season, and even compared to his Middlesbrough team-mates he’s a lowly sixth in the team when it comes to key passes with an average of just one per 90 minutes. He also averages less than one shot per game.

Should his chance creation ever match his ability to beat a man then he’ll be one of the best players in the game. As it stands, Boro caretaker manager Steve Agnew may as well throw him into the mix and hope that some of these forays past opposition defenders can lead to chances for Negredo.